Vote Mars
by BIFF1
Summary: Movie compliant - Neptune is crying out for a new sheriff and Veronica is more than happy to follow in her father's footsteps even if he isn't that happy about it. Mac however is more than happy to lend her talents to a job she might actually enjoy and Dick has a problem that he will gladly fund Veronica's campaign if she makes it go away. Eventual MaDi, established LoVe
1. Vote Mars

**Veronica - Vote Mars**

* * *

She slid into the passenger seat of Mac's car and feels like the worst daughter in the world. A prize she seems to be constantly claiming.

"Why do you look like you're going to barf? Do I need to pull over?" Mac asks driving quickly back to the office where her father is waiting to gush about how good she must have done on the Bar, about how his baby girl is going to be a lawyer.

"I didn't take the bar." the words just fall out of her mouth like tossed cookies.

"What are you talking about? You were in there for two hours. I know, I waited, I played like a million games of Ticket to Ride on my phone and watched an episode of Buffy."

"I went in totally ready to take the bar and..." she trails off.

"And?"

"And then I didn't?"

"So what you sat in there for two hours not taking a test? What did you do? Throw up? Did you throw up? You could have messaged me I would have come and held you're hair for you."

"Do I really look that bad?" She asks flipping the mirror down and discovering yes she absolutely looks that bad, she's too pale and she feels cold all over.

"What happened Veronica?" Mac asks pulling to a stop in front of the office.

"I walked down the hall and there were two doors. One door lead to the bar and the other lead to the post."

"You got the mail for two hours?"

"It stands for Peace Officer's Standard Training..."

A light seems to go on in Mac's eyes and she nods a little for encouragement.

"So through one door was the bar and being a lawyer and making dad happy and working with Cliff and running the p.i business with dad... and the other door was the post. And being able to run for sheriff against Lamb and to kill all that corruption, and take down that bastard that ran down my father and killed Sacks..." She has to pause there because Sacks had been a sometimes friend and a good cop when it really came down to it and he didn't deserve what he got and she'd always thought his moustache was funny.

"So you took the POST?"

"Yeah."

"And so you're going to run for sheriff?"

"If I pass..."

Mac scoffs at that and it calms her nerves a little, "Like you couldn't have taken that test ten years ago and aced it without all that laywer-y knowledge all up in your noggin." Mac pushes her lightly and she's glad that someone in the car has confidence in her, "When is the next election?"

"Three months."

"Is that enough time? Where are you going to get the money for a campaign?"

Okay so she hadn't really thought about that, and perhaps everyone in Neptune with deep pockets either hated her or was taking a dirt nap except for Logan who wouldn't be back until two months too late. She'd think of something.

"I'll think of something."

"I'm sure you will. If you need anything from me just call or text or smoke signal whatever."

"Smoke signal?"

"Uh yeah, I was a scout, I wouldn't use semaphore thou, I'm pretty rusty and might just end up bringing pizza instead of coming to your techno rescue."

"That sounds pretty win win to me." She smiles and Mac returns it but there's something off about it, and she notices the time and how she should really be at Kane Software already but she seems to be dragging out this conversation.

"You want me to come in and help you break the news to your dad?"

Yeah there is definitely something wrong because no one in there right mind would want to be in the middle of a Mars throw down. This is definitely something they are going to have a talk about later.

"Nah I got this, you go to work. Thanks for driving me to the test...even if I didn't take the one I meant to."

Mac runs her hands across the steering wheel but nods, "Call me later?"

"Will do Mac-attack." she confirms and gets out of the car.

The sun is shining again. It always seems to be shining here and she can't help but find that kind of funny when it's the darkest place she's ever been.

She watches Mac drive off towards her actual job because she has this weird feeling that if she didn't Mac would still be sitting there in her car when she came back out of the office that night.

Plus she wasn't really looking forward to telling her dad that she was following in his footsteps no matter how hard he protested.

Taking a deep steadying breath she climbs the stairs up towards the office.

The second she opens the door she regrets it.

There's a loud pop and she hits the ground. Her mind spinning to remember where exactly in her purse Mr. Sparky is sleeping.

She's counting possible exits and possible culprits when streamers hit the ground in front of her.

It's a popper not a gun.

"I haven't seen anyone drop like that in years." Her dad laughs moving around the desk, the crutches making it a clattering slow affair.

Pushing herself up off the thankfully clean floor she narrows her eyes at him, "Why would you give your favorite daughter a heart attack like that?"

"It's a celebration popper. You're just getting paranoid in your old age."

She scoffs at that. It's not paranoia if its true and its been true more times than not.

"So how did my little lawyer do?"

"Uh... About that..." She sinks to the couch and watches pained as her father moves slowly to sit on the couch with her.

"Oh honey you can always take it again." He smiles softly and runs a hand through her hair.

_And the award for worst daughter in the world goes to..._

"I'm sure I passed the test I took." She tells him plainly and he smiles brightly for a moment before processing just how vague her words really are.

"What test did you take?" He asks his voice low and slow like he's preparing for her to just stab him right in the heart.

"The POST."

He chokes on spit, "you did what?"

"I took the-"

"I heard you." He sags into the couch his head on the back almost hitting the wall and her stomach tightens because he needs to be more careful, his fingers pressed into his eyes.

She's silent for a long moment. Waiting for shit to hit fans. She had been expecting this, but had really really been hoping that he'd just be mad at her rather than this horrible disappointed sadness that's hanging on him.

"Why would you take the post Veronica?" He sounds so tired.

"I'm going to run for sheriff." She tells him as firmly as she can manage but the way her father looks at her eats away at her resolve.

"How well exactly do you think another Mars running for sheriff will go Veronica? They'll eat you alive."

"They'll only eat me alive if I let them." She's had people try to destroy her her entire life...well the majority of it, she was used to it by now. She was made of tougher stuff now because of it. The nine years of regular non Neptune life may have softened her a little but she was quickly toughening back up.

"Veronica why do you want to be sheriff..."

She pushes herself up from the couch this is it, time for the big Serpico speech.

"I want to be sheriff...I _need_ to be sheriff because no one else is willing or able to clean up this mess. The police brutality, the corruption...what they did to you...to Sacks..." Keith looks down into his lap at that, "I _need_ to be Sheriff because you can't be and this town needs a Mars in office."

She wonders for a brief moment how much of this is guilt over ruining her fathers election, how much of it is her desire to fix this for_ him_ and how much of it is to protect people like Weevil who'd made something of their life only to have it ripped away because the rich _could_.

"The election is going to be painful Veronica you have to know that."

"When did I ever do anything easy?"

"They are going to drag everything out into the open."

She laughed at that, "Since when is that new, they showed the sex tape at my high school reunion. They think I can't handle a little mud-slinging? Baby I live in the mud."


	2. Garden Party

**Mac - Garden Party**

* * *

She pulled into her parking spot at Kane software, the little thing with her name on it at the far end of the lot and sat in her car.

She hated her job.

She's never hated anything so much in her entire life.

The very idea of stepping into that building makes her want to vomit. Maybe she'd just been projecting on Veronica but then again maybe not. Deciding to run for sheriff was kind of a huge deal.

A huge deal she was totally behind. Then again she had only voted for sheriff once and it was for Keith. Why break a Mars only tradition?

_Okay Mackenzie go in that building and to your desk to do that mindless crap they pay you the dollar dollar bills for._

She steps out of the car and makes her way into the building flashing a smile at the security guard and making her way to the elevator.

A quick scan of her hand and the press of a button and she's off... It seems like she works for a spy company or intelligence or something exciting.

It had been exciting all of two weeks before she realized that she was only getting parts of a whole project and had no input what so ever.

It was like working on the god damn x files movie.

She gets off the elevator and walks towards her station the twisting in her stomach killing her.

She doesn't want to be here anymore. She misses the freedom of running her own projects.

She'd been promised a position on Kane's top team, working on the next big project. They hadn't mentioned anything about how she wasn't allowed to know what the fuck it was.

She sits down heavily in her ergonomic wheely chair and pulls the in box towards her, allowing for it to scrape across the desk.

"That time of the month Mackenzie?" A thick low voice came from behind her.

Joshua. Her work station partner... She wanted to staple him in the face with her regulation swingline. He seemed perfectly content to just create what he was told and he smelt like a boys locker room. Like sweat and bad cologne and insecurity.

"Like you would ever need to know." She tells him firmly starting up her station. He's not unattractive. In fact if he never spoke and was on the far side of the room she might be into it.

However that wasn't the case.

The hairs on the back of her neck rise and she feels fingers graze across her neck.

"You know I have HR on speed dial now right?" She hisses pulling her seat in closer to the desk.

He laughs like it's some sort of in joke they share. She's serious. She's had them on speed dial since he emailed her a very inappropriate very detailed message declaring his intentions.

Maybe he's the reason she hates this job? She starts the programing she's allotted for today and knows its only part of the problem.

Her brain is going to die, she can feel herself getting dull and hates this.

Several hours later she finds herself blissfully alone the rest of the team out somewhere for lunch. She gave the vegan excuse again.

They have to know its an excuse because they never call her out on vegan options at the places they go and she knows for a fact that The Palomino does an amazing vegan taco that she's been craving all week.

It's just that...they're so boring. She had spent her formative years trying to get in the pants of a sociopath, helping to solve murders and catch rapists and break into Kane software.

Her bff for life was _the_ Veronica Mars for Christ sakes.

She could feel her brain turning to pudding as she skimmed her emails. Wallace asking for help with some school fundraiser he'd been roped into, some cute animal picture thing from her grandma, details on Parkers wedding that she hasn't decided if she's even going to or not yet.

An email from Joshua... Sent from his phone? No thanks that reeks of dick pic and she'd rather eat glass.

Lord knows its been awhile but she'd rather pay for services rendered than let that freaks parts anywhere near her own.

She deletes it without looking.

She's contemplating the pros and con's of putting a snes emulator on the work computer when the alarm goes off on her phone.

She pushes away from her desk, the wheels of her chair catching momentarily on the carpet between her desk and Joshua's.

His password is laughable.

Alpha numeric? Really? Not a single symbol? So much for all that MIT shit he talks. She could break into this in her sleep.

She's pouring through his programming and comparing it to what she's creating.

She just wants to know what the hell she's creating, if it's some Frankenstein monster that's going to make her feel dirty for the rest of her life or if it's something she can take pride in and push through this rough patch for because god she wants to cut and run.

The elevator makes its particular after lunch clang and she zooms back to her desk.

She'll just get though today, one day at a time Mackenzie. She's hoping if she gets her allotment done quick enough she can leave early to go help Veronica sort out this sheriff stuff. Something she'd much rather be spending her time on.

"Did you get my message?" Joshua asks and the smirk on his face is slimy, there's a sleazy quality to it that makes her skin crawl.

"No. You sure you have the address right?"

He looks suddenly so wonderfully nervous that she has to bite back a smirk and turn to her work.

* * *

She finishes early and pushes back from her desk careful not to bump into Joshua's chair.

Her desk phone goes off.

Confused she answers

"Mackenzie..."

_Come to meeting room K._

They hang up before she can ask if she needs to bring anything with her.

She walks down the long ominous hall to meeting room K. When she enters Jake Kane, Weidman and that fat lady from HR are sitting at the far end of the table and at her end of the table a stack of papers a pen and a little box.

"Good afternoon Ms. Mackenzie, did you have a productive morning?" The fat lady asks with a smile.

"Yes thank you." She returns doing her best not to stare at Jake Kane. Trying desperately to remember all the things Veronica had told her about him to make him less impressive.

"You were seen out with Miss. Mars this morning." Weidman says like she's supposes to be surprised that he knows.

"That's correct...is there some problem with that? I didn't call in sick or lie about going to a doctor's appointment. I took the morning off as a personal day." She tells them eyeing the stack of paper at her end.

_Holy fuck..._

Those are termination papers.

She looks up at them, "you're firing me. Why?"

She's fairly certain they have to actually tell her.

"You are a security risk Miss. Mackenzie."

"Because I'm friends with Veronica and I took her to take the bar this morning?"

"No. You are a security risk because you have been sneaking into your co-workers computers looking for the other parts of project garden party."

Honestly she'd been surprised that they hadn't fired her last week, breaking into Joshua's computer was certainly not her first offence, just the first of the week.

It was odd that they had waited...

_Oh those bastards._

"You're firing me now instead of earlier because I've just finished the programming you needed me for. God." She shakes her head and grabs the pen and starts signing the release forms, "you know what? fuck this." She flips through the papers signing every spot with one of those stupid post-it arrows.

She drops her badge into the little box provided, "It's not going to work." She tells them and Jake narrows his eyes but says nothing, "This _Garden Party_, the security protocols you had me do will need to be completely rewritten. They won't work with half of the teams parts. I would have been happy to tell you that earlier if you'd treated this like an actual team and not some sort of dystopian factory."

"What do you mean it won't..." Jake stands from his seat between the others, his voice beautifully desperate.

"I'm sorry. I don't work for you any more you can figure that out on your own_ big brother_." She walks out of the meeting room back towards her desk and sees that a security guard already has her things swept into a box.

"Mac?" Pat asks standing from her desk at the far end of the floor, "What's going on?"

"I'm out, apparently I'm too interesting to work here. Have fun." She starts to the elevator, "All right Kojak let's do this." She presses the call button and gets into the elevator with the security guard who is nice enough to continue holding her box of stuff, "You going to carry that all the way to my car for me or just shove it at me and kick me out of the front doors?"

He looks her up and down, "Which lot is your car in?"

"F"

He smirks, "You're on your own sweets."

She looks down at her skirt, not enough leg for F lot she supposes. Whatever she can't wait to tell Veronica how beautifully she burnt this bridge and if anyone could appreciate the beauty of a burnt bridge it was her bestie.


	3. For Richard

**Dick - For Richard**

* * *

The sounds of girl talk and explosions fill the beach house.

He's sitting on the couch a brownie in one hand and his Xbox controller in the other. He loves when Logan's in town but having free reign of his house is always great.

Logan makes him wear pants.

_Pssh_

It's not like he's never seen him in his underwear before.

_But noooo_. Logan had to group up into an actual adult and shit.

Boo

Wasn't he aware that they had obscene amounts of money? That they could just drink and fuck (girls not each other. Gross) and not work?

His trust fund had said he needed a university degree it said nothing about actually doing anything with it.

He pops the brownie in his mouth and proceeds to blow his way through yet another multiplayer match.

Gawd.

He was baked and these punks weren't even a challenge.

Thirsty.

He grabs his beer bottle off the table and shakes it. Dry.

He let's the game wait at the match screen and pushes away from the couch.

He walks to the kitchen, passed the front door.

"Huh...weird." He pushes the door closed. He doesn't remember leaving it open...then again that doesn't really mean that he didn't.

He rummages around the fridge. He swears there's one last beer in here somewhere. The last of the Logan beer. He finds it too hoppy but it's here and he feels like Logan would be disappointed if he came back and his beer was still in the fridge.

"Ah ha!" He grabs the neck of the bottle out from behind a tower of half eaten take out.

The song switched over to something low and slow and kind of pretty in a creepy sort of way. Must be some of Logan's_ I have feelings _shit.

He makes his way back to the couch, closing the front door on his way.

"Wait." He looks back at the door.

He definitely closed that on the way to the kitchen. He pushes it closed and watches it for a moment to make sure it doesn't pop back open.

It doesn't.

"Weird..." He twists the lock and goes back to the couch. Maybe he should get a locksmith to look at it or something.

Meh it'd probably never happen again.

He turns the corner and everything feels kind of wrong...

The TV is no longer showing the multiplayer screen... It's the music screen.

Death cab...

The slow low music is getting increasingly aggressive. But that seems to be the only thing different.

He must just be getting paranoid. Too many brownies. He sits back down on the couch.

He reaches out for the controller and hits coffee table. He looks down, the controller is in the floor. Must have fallen.

_How I wish you could see the potential_

He looks up some dude has started over the melody.

_The potential of you and me_

He picks up the controller and quickly kills the song. Its giving him the creeps.

_Chill Dick._

You came in drunk and didn't close the door properly.

You didn't wait for the door to click before you went to the kitchen.

The controller fell off the table and changed the music.

Nothing weird is going on. Weird shit doesn't happen _to_ him it only happens _around_ him.

He relaxes into the couch taking a long drink of the pale ale Logan loves so much and starts up another round of multiplayer COD.

* * *

Hours are lost to more brownies and cans of pop and COD.

His phone goes off vibrating across the far side of the coffee table...weird he thought he left it in his bedroom. Obviously not.

It's an unknown number...

_Hey bitch the 09er tonight right?_

Its Kim...or Kelsey? It's a K name and she's got a nice rack.

She shouldn't be an unknown number.

"I guess I can make room in my busy schedule."

He pushes up away from the couch and starts towards the stairs. He supposes he has to put pants on eventually.

_The ocean was glass_ _Dick everyone knows you were getting baked and playing call of duty all day._

He rolls his eyes and pushes his bedroom door open and almost drops the phone.

His bed is not only made but turned down. He didn't have maid service today.

_Dick?_

"I'll call you back." He hangs up and goes to the bed. On the pillow. _His_ pillow, _his_ side, is a book. A journal of sorts all ragged pages and ribbon.

He opens the night stand drawer and pulls his gun out of it's oh so creative hiding place. Its there but the chamber is empty and the box of ammo is gone.

He checks the house anyway.

Its empty and so is his phone. Well not exactly empty. Every girl in his phone is wiped. Even Kelly whose a frat brother.

Everyone.

All his hard earned booty calls just fucking wiped.

Well one girl is left but she doesn't really count.

Mr. Sparky - Veronica.

He picks the book up and he feels ice cold.

_For Richard_

In all swirling black pen the page has little swirls of detail in the corners of its heavy paper.

He flips to the next page expecting some sort of murder plan he finds what he assumes is a poem.

_Eyes like the ocean_

_Hair like the sunshine, I'm drowning_

_Drowning in your light_

Okay this was seriously a problem. He put the book of crazy down in the night stand and pulled on some jeans.

I was that big of a problem, it deserved pants.

* * *

He sat in his car in front of the building for way too long.

He didn't want to do this.

He had money, the cops would listen to him, they'd deal with it for him...but he honestly didn't trust them to get the job done. They were good a framing poor people and making drug charges and shit just go away, they hadn't solved an actual case since, god forever.

Veronica was good at this kind of shit.

He didn't want the convenient person charged he want the actual bitch that had been in his house taken down.

Which meant Veronica, unfortunately.

He's about to get out of his car and cross the street to the office when a car he recognises parks in front of the building. A girl gets out of the car. Short blond brown hair and a skirt that rides up as she bends down into the car to pull something out.

Yeah he'd tap that but there is something oddly familiar about her.

He's trying to guess between cheating husband or missing friend when she straightens up setting a box of stuff on the roof of the car. She stands there in the street and rubs her hands down her thighs trying to smooth her skirt.

Yeah he'd _definitely_ tap that.

Be hot, come on be hot.

If she's hot he'll get out of the car right now and work some Dick magic. Pun not intended but appreciated. Maybe stay at her place... In fact that was a pretty good plan he was going to go get laid tonight. The locks had all been changed but there was so much glass.

He bites his lip waiting for her to turn and when she does he feels sick all over again.

_Mac_.

He watches her walk into the building paying far too much attention to the movements of her body up the stairs as she heaves the box of what look like her worldly possessions along with her.

Maybe he was better off with the cops.

He looks across the car to the passenger seat where the offending journal of shit poetry is waiting.

No.

He knew he wasn't and while he had all the locks replaced before he had left it still felt wrong and cold.

The same slow low build up of melody fills the car and he slams his hand into the radio and forces himself out of the car.


	4. Cha Ching

**Cha Ching**

* * *

_So how's he taking it?_

She's been on the phone with Wallace for a good half an hour and her father has come out of his office three times to just look at her with this kind of sad expression and then hobble back to his desk.

"Oh so well. He's rushing out right now to buy glitter for my campaign posters...he keeps offering me a cigar and patting me on the back...he's dusting off the old JVC to document my rise to power...he's-"

_Okay okay I get it badly. Stop_.

Good because she couldn't come up with another one. She feels terrible, a dull heavy stomach-ache kind of awful and if there's one person she knows with a magical power to fix stuff its Papa Bear.

_So you're really doing this then_

She takes a deep shuttering breath and she's not even that ashamed of it because its Wallace he's practically her arm. He's a part of her.

"Yes. I am."

_And your going to sweep it. Landslide._

She smiles to herself and skims the Balboa county sheriffs departments site to find out when she can take the next part of the test. It's a physical.

She pokes herself in the stomach and wonders when exactly becoming a lawyer had given her all this extra body mass.

"Thanks... What are you doing for dinner tonight?"

_Pizza and staff meeting_

He grumbles and she's about to dig into him about teaching not being all about summers off when the office door opens and Mac steps in.

"I have to go Mac just got here..."

_Its pretty early to be finished work isn't it?_

"She's one potted plant away from every person whose ever been fired on TV I gotta go." Mac nods and sets the bank box of belongings down on the couch.

Her father opens the door and leans against it looking at Mac as she said her goodbyes to Wallace.

"Am I a bad father Mac? Did I do something so wrong that she would do this to me?"

"Uh..." Mac falters and looks at her with wide eyes, "maybe you were so good that she wants to emulate you?"

He makes a noise in the back of his throat, "nice try Mac. Your parents must be so proud..." He eyes the box, "why were you fired?"

She sits down on the couch and looks between them and she doesn't pity her for getting a double dose of the Mars tell all stare.

"I'm too interesting?" She tries and her father just shakes his head and goes back into the office closing it to give them some of the limited privacy available.

Veronica leans forward over the desk that's still set up with too many monitors as far as she's concerned.

She doesn't really understand the need for all that screen but then again that's why she had Mac.

Well she also had Mac cause she loved her and stuff of course.

"Too interesting huh?"

She makes a frustrated noise and falls back into the cushions, "they are _so_ boring Veronica you wouldn't even believe , they can't be from here. No one from Neptune is that dull."

"What did you do?"

"I just wanted to find out what I was working on..." Mac is doing that coy innocent thing with her face and not actually looking at her.

"Uh huh and?"

She watches Mac get a little taller and it takes no time to realize whatever she did to get fired is something she's actually proud of.

"I broke into all of my co-workers computers to find out what they were making us do. Seriously they promised me the top team, they offered me _so_ much money, they wanted me they should have known that I don't do blind. I gave them exactly what they wanted and when I was done they fired me for being a security risk." She scoffs and Veronica can't stop the bright smile bursting across her face.

"Oh that's great."

"Yeah and then I basically told Jake Kane to fuck off and have fun fixing the program since it totally won't work the way they want it to..." She gets kind of quiet and small, "so...um... Need any tech support?" She asks and it's not hard to read how scared and nervous she is.

"Oh I don't know...Hey Dad we got room in the company for a tech genius who told Jake Kane where to go?" She yells looking at her father's shadow through the frosted glass.

"I think we can make room." Is his casual reply but she can hear the laugh in his tone.

"Great now get away from my desk before you break something." Mac smiles brightly and picks up her box-o-stuff to drop on the desk.

"I'm not going to break anything you're just paranoid." She purposely kicks a cord and suddenly everything on the screens disappears.

"Oh really?" Mac tells her hands on her hips, "and what do you call this?"

"Oh my god you're right whatever would we do without you?" She offers in her best breathy damsel voice and Mac shakes her head and gets down on all fours to reconnect the cord

The door opens and she readies herself to look professional and competent.

She sighs and sags against the chair.

It's just Dick. Probably on some Logan related errand.

Although he looks like he's going to heave, in fact he even looks sober. Or at least as sober that he can possibly be, his hair is a mess and she hates that he's got that kind of hair that still looks good messy.

Rich surfer boy hair.

He opens his mouth to say something but no sound comes out and his eyes drop and it doesn't take a private eye to know what he's staring at.

"Mac." She hisses under her breath and taps her with her foot.

"Do you realize what a hazard all these cords are Veronica? Do you want the whole place yo go up?" She kicks at her again because if Dick looks any harder at her he's going to burn a hole right through her besties skirt.

"Yeah Ronnie leave her alone she just has your safety at heart."

Mac squeaks and stands up quickly spreading her skirt down as low as is physically possible but the movement just makes Dicks eyes linger.

"Did you come here for a reason Dick?" She doesn't bother to keep the edge out of her voice. This is Dick after all. Besides he'd probably have a heart attack if she was nice to him, "or did you just come for the view?"

Dick eyes Mac and she is fairly certain he'd be eye fucking her if he wasn't so thrown and she's positive that Dick would be properly hitting on her if she was anyone else.

She snaps her fingers to pull his attention back to her.

"What do you want Dick? Is this about Logan?"

"No." He tosses the book he's holding onto the desk, "I want to hire you."

Cha Ching!

She can practically hear that beautiful cash register sound.

And she has wracked her brain all day to figure out how to fund her upcoming run for sheriff.

"I'm not cheap Dick."

Dick opens his mouth to say something rude about that but he forces his mouth closed.

He must really want her help.

"How much?" Is all he says.

"Well what's your problem."

"I found that today." He points at the book and she picks it up. It's surprisingly heavy for what looks like a journal. She flips through the ragged pages. Its filled with feminine handwriting.

It's all crappy love poems and the repeated references of sunshine and gold spun hair make it pretty clear who the muse is.

"Where did you find it?" She hands it over to Mac who leans against the shelving behind her and pours over the thing.

"In my bedroom."

"They were in your house? That's pretty bold for a stalker's first move. Normally there's some sort of escalation leading up to the break in."

"Like what? Like notes on my windshield and flowers and shit?"

"Uh yeah."

"Yeah. It's been happening for a while I just figured they were meant for Logan or they got the wrong car or whatever." He shrugs and sits down in the seat across from her

"Why would you think that?"

"Cause I'm a dick? Why would anyone stalk me? Not famous just rich, I haven't even been infamous in like a decade. I mean you've met me what about me says stalkee material?"

She can't really argue with that she can't understand it either. There were so many other men in Neptune more worthy of the kind of worship indicated by the journal.

Richer, more famous, more interesting men were not in short supply in Neptune.

She supposed he was pretty but was pretty really enough to stalk someone who was as much of an ass as Dick was? Maybe they had never actually spoken with him before, or been close enough to hear his crude comments?

"Hey,been trying to meet you. Hey, must be a devil between us or whores in my head, whores in your bed..."

Veronica turns to look at Mac who is reading out of the big ol' book of crazy.

"Why does that sound so familiar?" She asks trying to dig into the back of her brain.

"It's a Pixie's song." Dick supplies and she wishes she missed the pleased look that passes briefly across Mac's face at his recollection, "except it's not right the whores aren't supposed to be in my bed."

Mac leans forward and shows her the pages with the lyrics written out a little wrong and a lot heavy. Deep heavy black lines across the page. If this girl was surprised by the amounts of whores in Dick's bed then she was a little more nutso then she had originally thought.

Anyone who grew up in Neptune or had spent five minutes in a ladies room at a club for that matter knew exactly the kind of partner Dick was.

_A temporary one._

She looks across the desk at Dick who looks nervous and pale, there has never been any love lost between them, even before Lily's death they had tolerated each other because of the people they actually cared about and she knew she had to do that again.

Logan would never forgive her if he came back to find Dick a little on the dead side.

Plus she could really use someone with deep pockets on her side.

"I'll take the case but it's going to cost."

He sags in the care and rolls his eyes, "How much for your pixie spy magic?"

"I want you to fund my campaign."

"What campaign?" he sits up and narrows his eyes at her.

She looks across at her father's closed door and can feel the bottom of her stomach disappearing. A warm hand presses against her shoulder-blade and she knows its Mac's way of showing her support.

"I'm going to be running for Sheriff."

"Against Lamb?"

"Yes."

"Another Mars v. Lamb election? How well do you think that's going to go?"

She sets her jaw and the sharp words are forming in her mouth but before she can get anything out Mac's dark tones fill the room, "And exactly who did you vote for last time?"

Dick is silent and she's honestly not sure if it's because he voted for Vinnie and is afraid of bodily harm of if he's silent because whatever Mac is trying to get to is right.

Mac doesn't seem to have that problem reading the silence, "That's what I thought. If you really thought Lamb was competent you'd be there instead of here. So don't even start." Veronica looks between them and she tries to suppress the need to vomit because Dick is looking at Mac like if he tries hard enough she'll just lay down across the desk and hike up her skirt for him.

She had always assumed that Mac was this weird blind spot for Dick. That she wasn't an option, she wasn't even a girl in his eyes. She had assumed that Mac was safe from Dick because of the Cassidy shaped shadow that she cast. Apparently she was wrong and god she wished she wasn't.

"So cough up or have fun playing cat and mouse with your stalker. Let me know when she leaves you a note about killing the president so you two can _be__ together._"

Mac puts the book on the desk, "I'm going to go get some coffee, do you want anything?" She asks.

Veronica just shakes her head, she's already had eight cups she'll be wide awake until next week.

Mac crosses the office and asks her father if he wants any before she disappears out of the office leaving her alone with Dick.

"Okay I'm going to pretend like I didn't just watch you try to eye fuck my best friend and get right down to business, if you agree to help fund my campaign I'll make little miss crazy go away."

"Does Logan know you're running for Sheriff?"

"Not yet."

Dick makes a noise in the back of his throat and stands up, "Fine."

"Don't you want to know how much?"

"Invoice me." He turns and starts towards the office door.

"Hey where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going for dinner at Sebastian's and then I'm going to the 09er to get laid. If you think I'm going home tonight you're crazier than the chick who wrote me a book of fucking poetry."


	5. Dirty Work

**Dirty work**

* * *

Veronica is alone in the main office typing up something on the computer that takes up so much of her attention she barely looks up as the door jingles announcing that she's returned.

She's a little ashamed of basically running away from Dick but the looks he was giving her were turning her inside out.

She moves through the office to the smaller inner office that Veronica had used while she'd been working here the first time, while Keith was still laid up in the hospital.

She sets his mocha with whipped cream on the desk in front of him and his almond croissant next to it.

"Thanks Mac." He smiles up at her and she returns it.

"It's not very detectivey." She tells him as he pokes happily at the whipped topping, "I thought pi's were all about black coffee and cigarettes?"

He leans back carefully in his chair and looks at her, "how bout you do the black coffee and I'll get a pack of those chocolate cigarettes and we call it Squaresville doll face."

She bites back a laugh but nods. She obviously has to work on her private eye lingo. She thinks she has an old copy of _The Thin Man_ in her apartment somewhere.

She stops short just outside the office door.

God can she still afford that apartment? Working for Keith is going to be more personally satisfying for sure but her bank account is going to certainly suffer.

She sits down in front of the desk that should be hers and waits for Veronica to decide to pay attention to her.

She was paid up until the end of the month and she wasn't locked into the apartment thank god.

Looks like she should stop unpacking.

"How does this sound, _hey Logan. Guess who has two thumbs and is running for sheriff?_ Does that sound okay?" She asks pulling her attention to her.

"Not really how about _dear sugatbeat, after a lengthy debate with several people whose opinions I hold in high esteem I have decided to run for sheriff. Hopefully by the time you return we will be able to use my uniform for sexy times. Love Bobcat?"_

"Ha ha no way he'll know something is wrong if I call him sugarbeat and he'd never believe that I talked to people about this first. How about _remember that time you told me you thought I'd look hot in a uniform well your going to be able to find out for sure and remember to vote Mars for sheriff."_

"How about _Logan. I'm running for sheriff. Love Veronica_."

Veronica nods and starts typing and she must send the short email off because all of her attention is now on her.

"So how are you going to break it to your parents about losing your job at Kane?"

"I figure next month I just show up at their door with all my worldly possessions and remind them that they love me more."

"Why would you do that?"

"Have you seen my new apartment?"

"Yeah its super nice..."

"Yeah guess what my zip is?"

"Oh no..."

"Yep I sure can't afford my shiny modernist 09er apartment. With its energy-efficient appliances and hardwood and in suite laundry."

"Rough."

"Yeah." She shrugs and tries not to sound as scared and panicked as she is, "so Dick hired you?"

"Yeah...we need to deal with this I guess. How do you feel about spending the night with me?"

She puts a hand to heart, "Its sweet of you to offer your body up to help me make rent, your place or mine?" She smirks at Veronica who almost chokes on her drink.

"I think we should put the porn on the back burner for now Debbie and just start with a stake out, at least until after the election."

"Well okay but your missing out. I'll have you know I was _very_ good at my sexy phase in college."

* * *

"So...this is a stake out huh?" She asks flopping forward onto her steering wheel her eyes focused on the large windows of Sabastian's.

She's only been in town for a couple of months but she figured out pretty quick that the best restaurant was practically an 09er only affair.

It had the best vegan menu in town too and she hated the back of Dicks stupid head for being in there.

"Yep. Welcome to the life." Veronica spreads her arms like she's the godfather or something.

She has her feet up on the dash and an old police manual in her lap.

"The movies make it look so much better than this..."

"That's because they skip all the boring sitting around parts and only show the sexually charged banter and stuff." Veronica shrugs and stuffs the last slice of pizza into her face.

"Does this mean were supposed to have sexually charged banter?" She asks watching as the whores with Dick and Sean barely touch their meals.

Fucking waste.

"Meh. You going to each the rest of your taco."

She pulls her eyes away from the back of Dicks head, "I absolutely am." She swats her hands away from her taco. She's been craving this taco for days no way she was going to let Veronica get her paws on it.

She pulls the Styrofoam container into her lap.

"Okay so we need to put this tracer on Dicks car and this bug in his car." She holds up two small items. She must have access to the good stuff again  
because they don't look like much, and they certainly don't look like Charlie would be handing them out to super models.

"So how exactly do you want to do that?"

"I'm not." She smiles brightly and she knows where this is going before Veronica tries to force the hardware into her hands, "You are."

"You know I'm tech support right?"

Veronica softens a little and it's a startling thing to see, she's sure that Veronica has been working very hard to harden herself back up ever since she decided not to go back to New York but seeing it in such an enclosed space hit her right in the heart.

"If I get elected-"

"_When_."

Veronica's eyes drops and she bites back a self-conscious smile, "_When _I get elected Dad is going to need help and I want you to be prepared."

"What kind of help?" She asks but she takes the tracker and the bug anyway because no matter what kind of help she's going to be expected to provide she knows she'll do it. She's been friends with Veronica long enough to know when she asked you to go into the field Veronica had your back and she was fairly certain she had learned that particular trait from her father.

"Its my dad so he won't make you do nearly half the stuff I would. Probably just planting some hardware, leg work when his having trouble..."

She puts her hand over Veronicas, "It'll be okay Veronica. I got this." She tells her firmly and gets out of the car and starts across the street

She's got this? What the hell is she thinking? She doesn't have this? She wants the step by step tutorial for fuck sakes.

She takes a look at the parking lot of the restaurant. God they all look the same. Dark sports cars, all screaming entitled assholes and none of them seem to have any discerning features no _I break for pipeline_ or surf paraphernalia or even fuzzy dice.

She's going to need to talk to Dick. Have him lead her to his car so she can plant this stuff.

She tries to straighten her clothes, still the pencil skirt and button up she'd been fired in. She takes a steadying breath and enters the restaurant.

She stands as straight as possible and looks down at the hostess, a cute blonde little thing that's eyeing her clothing.

"Can I help you?" She can just tell by the girls tone that she's 09 whose parents are forcing her to work to create character. God she had not missed that about Neptune.

"Yes. Tell Mr. Casablancas that he's needed outside." The words drip with a disdain that seems to put the girl in her place.

"And who should I say the message is from?"

"Cindy." She says without skipping a beat and turns on her expensive heels and leaves the restaurant. God it had smelt so good.

She looks across the street to Veronica whose watching confused.

She's got this. She has to because she needs a job and no doubt she's been blacklisted by now. No head hunters are going to be coming around now. Not when it could anger the great King Kane.

She's thinking about what she can sell to try to keep her apartment when an arm wraps around her waist.

"I was hoping it was you." Dick whispers into her ear and whatever had been keeping him from properly coming on to her earlier is gone because his mouth is most certainly on her ear, his tongue hot and wet against her skin, "Ronnie got you doing the dirty work?" His teeth nip at her ear and her breathing gets heavy without her permission, "I have some dirty work you could do."

"Car." She yelps out and twists out of his loose grip, "Can we go to your car?"

The smirk that spreads across his face makes it clear what he thinks is going to happen once they get to the car and if she was an outsider she'd probably think that's what was going to happen too. She can feel her skin heating up and her breath is coming a little more quickly than she'd like.

He wraps a hand around hers and leads her to the car. He even opens the passenger door for her. She tries not to notice how heavy his gaze is on her as she gets in.

While he's walking around the car to the other door she presses the listening device into the fabric on the visor.

She gets out of the car as he gets in and she slaps the tracker under the bumper on her way back to her car.

She gets into her car and Veronica is looking at her strangely.

"What?"

"What just happened?"

"All the damn cars looked the same..."

_I don't know where you put it but I know you put a bug in here _Cindy_. Hope you enjoy the show._

Dicks voice crackles across the radio.

"That's kind of ominous..." Veronica grumbles cracking another can of pop.

"He's just bitchy because he thought something was going to happen." She waves it away but she can still feel the heat of his breath on her skin.

"So is it?"

"Is what?" She asks as they watch Dick walk back into the restaurant.

"Going to happen?"

"What?"

"Sex. Are you going to have sex with Dick?" Veronica blurts out and she looks away from the restaurant to look at the small blond in her passenger seat.

"Why would you even think that was a possibility?"

She shrugs, "I don't know he seems pretty interested in what's under your skirt and its been a while hasn't it?"

Mac sags back into her seat, "Is this the sexually charged conversation we're going to have Veronica? When the last time I got horizontal was?"

"I guess so." Veronica sits up in her seat and puts her seatbelt on. Mac notices that the group is on the move and she does her belt up as well.

"Yeah its been a while but not because offers haven't come up okay? If I was desperate for a lay I would have let that creepy guy at Kane software do what he detailed in a very inappropriate email."

"Inappropriate email? Those are my favourite." Veronica claps and turns the radio up to catch Dicks conversation as they drive away.

She keeps two cars behind and in the other lane. Just like she's seen in spy shows.

The topic of creepy Joshua broken by the conversation between Dick and Sean.

Dick is calling dibs on the brunette. He thinks he's going on a brunette kick and Veronica looks sidelong at her but doesn't say anything.

_What's up Dick?_

_Nothings up._

_You are a shit liar._

_Bullshit I'm a great liar... _

_..._

_okay so I might have a __stalker_

_No way really?_

_Yeah..._

_You think its Melanie?_ _She had more than her fair share of crazy man._

Veronica writes the name down.

_No way you know she's a nun now._

Veronica scribbles the name out.

_No! Really?_

They talk the rest of the way to the 09er about _Sister Melanie_ and how neither would mind taking another run at that as long as she kept the outfit on.

"Pigs." She grumbles pulling into a space down the street from Dicks car. They all walk into the club without an issue. She's pretty sure that Dick high fives the bouncer.

"Okay so what now? She could be in there drugging him and dragging him to her trophy basement as we speak."

"You sound worried."

"I'm worried about your funding."

"Oh right I forgot that we actually need him alive." She smirks, "Okay you got your dancing shoes on?"

"What?"

"You're going in to keep eyeball. I have my phone out and loud so if you need me just call."

"Why can't you go in?"

"Because I'll get bounced. They know me. You're just some hot chick with that better than you tell-tale 09er attitude."

"I am?"

"You better be. Our meal ticket could be getting skinned in the bathroom right now." She tells her with dramatic arm movements. Sometimes she thinks Veronica missed her true calling as a soap opera star, "plus you are rocking that business look Mac-attack."

She raises an eyebrow at her.

"What? Dick looked like he wanted to fuck you right there on the side walk."

"Dick would fuck a horse if you put a skirt on it." She tells her but opens her door anyway.

"Here put this on him." She hands her another listening device, "try to do it without him knowing." Veronica smiles, "for practice."

God she's just bubbling and she knows that she can't turn her down. She takes the bug and a handful of money and he id from her purse.

"Fine but I'm drinking on the job."

"Welcome to the biz kido." Veronica smiles and then get eyes get bright, "Ooo! Try and get a receipt! We'll charge it back to Dick later."

She's trying to channel her inner 09er bitch as she walks across the street undoing a couple of buttons before she walks right passed the bouncer and right into the club.

_Okay how the hell did she do that_. She had fully expected to have to talk her way into the club but she's in and honestly it's a bit of a let down.

It's a mass of expensive clothing and horrible people. Pouring their trust funds down their throats.

Although she wouldn't mind a drink herself.

Moving towards the bar she spots Dick. Its impossible not to find him. He's this big bright thing that just pulls and she knows she's not the only girl in the room to feel it. In fact she can see three potential poets right now.


	6. Safe Ride (M)

**Safe Ride (M)**

* * *

She's easy to pick out at the bar.

He knew that Veronica would force Mac into this one too. Veronica was too known, too attention grabbing there were at least a hand full of girls in the room that would give over their designer handbags to go a round with Ronnie.

Mac however. Mac was virtually an unknown. Just some hot girl straight from work in the need of a drink and maybe some company.

God he hoped company, he feels like going home with her would not only be safer and stalker free but also fucking amazing.

"So who do you think it could be?" Sean asks leaning into him. He only ever hangs out with Sean when Logan's out of town. Its easier that way. Sean thankfully doesn't seem to mind all that much. Maybe its easier for him too.

"If I knew this wouldn't be a problem now would it?"

Sean shrugs and leans away from him.

There were too many possibilities. Too many scorned women to wrap his head around and that wasn't even taking into account the girls he hadn't gotten with that had maybe desperately wanted to.

He was just too good-looking.

Because it had to be a looks thing he wasn't stupid he knew he wasn't the most interesting person to talk to or to keep a conversation with.

"Hey isn't that Ghostworld?" Sean points to the dance floor where Mac is losing herself in the thumping bass of whatever the hell is playing.

"Yeah..."

"How did she get in here?"

"Look at her Sean that's how she got in here." That and he told the bouncer that his super hot secretary was supposed to meet him here.

Sean makes a noise in the back of his throat that's supposed to be non-committal, "What's with you and the nerdy type recently?"

Dick shrugs, "They fucking slay in the sack man, your missing out. Girls that know they're hot just fucking lay there wondering whose getting killed in _Game__ of Thrones_ next. Girls that don't know they're hot or didn't get hot until late are actually like present and shit."

"If you say so man." Sean steps away from him towards Mac. Something in Dick just fucking clamps down and he puts a hand on Sean's arm and pulls him back.

"I told you brunettes are mine tonight." He smirks and makes his way through the crowd to her. She's not doing a very good job of looking for his stalker dancing like that but he'll let it slide because he's pretty sure he can actually get somewhere with adrenaline and gin Mac.

She barely acknowledges that he's there. His hand slides across her hip and pulls her in close to him and the thumping bass is slamming around his body and he thanks god that he's tall because he can see right down her shirt.

He loved being tall, she didn't have much to offer in the cleavage department but honestly he didn't really care when she had her hands on him. Sliding up his shirt. Her hands up into his hair.

He bent down so his mouth was on her ear again. She shuddered when he did that and he was pretty sure she had no idea she did.

"If you wanted to get wasted on my dime I would have bought you a drink." He whispers into her. She has one had tangled into his hair and the other is roaming across his body. She's tugging a little on his hair and her body is pressed up against him and fuck he wants to move this somewhere else. So he can be alone with her, hell he'd settle for just mostly alone.

His hand runs up the fabric of her skirt the tight little thing that he just wants to rip off her. Cut up the side of her, rip her nylons and just...just...

Fuck he was getting hard just thinking about it.

"Dick..." She whispers and it drives right into him even with all the loud thumping bass and loud talking, her voice sounds deep and breathy and _god_.

"Yeah?"

"Don't be mad." She pulls away from him and her eyes are dark and her mouth drops in outrage at something, a faked rage flickers across her and her hand comes slicing through the air and right across his cheek.

He watches her storm away and fuck he's left on the dance floor with a burning cheek and a hard on that's throbbing painfully for release. Fuck that was hot. She can slap him around any time.

He cracks his jaw and moves back to where Sean is waiting with a smirk that could be seen from god damn space.

"What the fuck are you smiling at?" He asks taking the drink offered. He looks at the open drink for a long time before he puts it down and takes Sean's instead.

"Dude." He grumbles taking the drink he'd offered Dick instead of his own, "And I'm smiling at how you struck out with Ghostworld of all people."

"Like you could have done better." He hisses.

"Oh I totally could."

"Bullshit."

They devolve into a comfortable conversation about who has better game. It's obviously him. Sean's moves remind him of a casting couch. Like girls do it to further their career not because they'd actually enjoy it. Girls fuck him because he's an adventure. Well probably because he's hot but still.

A pretty brunette keeps catching his eye from across the room and while he would rather fuck Mac he is absolutely not going home tonight and he refuses to go home with Sean. It's a matter of honor.

* * *

Its getting late and the girl is primed. Her hands grabbing at him, her legs moving in that desperate need of fiction kind of way and her kissing is getting frantic.

They tumble out into the night air and his hands are feeling out the curves of her body as he leads her to his car.

He has her pressed up against his car when he notices Mac across the street pretending not to notice. He pulls her hair aside and nips at her neck causing the girl to moan and squirm against him.

His hand follows the trail of her dress until his fingers meet with skin and her fingers twist in his shirt.

"Dick..." She moans out soft in his ear and it speeds up his heartbeat.

His hand slides across soft hot skin to the damp bit of fabric keeping him away. He shifts it easily out of the way and presses a finger deep into her.

The sound she makes is amazing a breathy gasp of a thing but the flushed look on Macs face across the street is better.

He wonders when the last time someone touched her like this was. The last time someone made her knees weak. The last time she'd been filled up, the last time she'd begged for more.

He slides another finger into her and the noises she makes hitch and her head falls back.

Her hand is grabbing desperately for the door handle grabbing the handle and his shoulder as her body tightens around his fingers.

He pulls his fingers out of her and skilfully wipes them against her leg without her even caring about anything other than having him touch her again.

He opens the door for her and she slips into the back-seat. He can't stop the smirk spread across his face as Mac looks at him wide-eyed.

He hopes she enjoys the show.

Getting into the back seat the girl pushes him back into the seat and is working on his pants the zipper feels loud in the panting silence of the car.

The girls underwear is off and on the seat next to him as she straddles him her hands between them sliding a condom on no doubt from her open purse.

He closes his eyes tightly as the girl slides down onto him. The girl replaced by Macs tight little body.

He groans in tandem with the girl as he bottoms out. Her mouth is on his neck and he opens his eyes to see long brown hair and shoulder and he can see Mac still watching mesmerized across the street.

She can hear him too.

Naughty girl.

The little amount of blood that was keeping his brain functioning rushes away at the thought of her sitting in the car across the street with her hand up her skirt.

He manoeuvres with the skill of someone practised in car sex so the girl is flat on her back and he's thrusting down into her his eyes flicking between her and the girl across the street.

She's moaning and gasping under him pressing up against him as he thrusts down.

She's a good lay. In fact if he didn't want Mac so badly she might even qualify for a repeat. The way her fingers dig into him and her moving against him like that. But she keeps shifting in his mind to Mac. Flat on her back under him her nylons torn to hell her skirt ripped and there's a rage in her that fuels her frantic movements.

Don't say her name.

Don't say her name.

The girl beneath him comes in an arching moaning mess his name in her mouth in a wonderfully natural way, breathy and half said.

He looks up at Mac and she's not looking at him anymore. She's leaning back in her seat her eyes closed and he just knows she's picturing her in the car with him instead of this girl whose name he's not even sure of.

"Look at me." The words fall out of his mouth.

Mac's eyes open and look right god damn into him and he loses it. Pressing hard into the girls body he fills the condom and huffing leans against the door looking down at the girl.

Joan?

"So my room-mate is out-of-town if maybe you were up for another round..." She bites her lip looking up at him and yeah he is and even if he wasn't he'd still say yes.

"Sounds good." He leans down and kisses her. Girls like that he's discovered after all this time. It makes them feel not cheap or some shit.

They untangle and he gets out of the car doing his pants back up he rounds the car to the driver's side and gets in. Joan? has squirmed her way into the passenger seat and they drive off.

He listens to her directions and watches Mac follow them. She's two cars back probably practising for a real tail job.

She shouldn't practice on him. He's acutely aware of her even thou he'd really rather not be. That was the love of his brothers short life for fuck sakes. He kept the two connected in his mind out of respect maybe? Out of fear probably because if Mac could make Cassidy _feel_ he had this feeling she'd pull him headlong into actual adulthood and he'd really rather not.

But god she was just really hot today.

That ass seriously what the fuck? And that mouth on her... He'd always known about that thou but getting rough with him?

Fuck. Yes please.

He slid his hand up the girl's dress and up into the still soaked core of her.

He's rewarded with a breathy moan and her legs spread more for him.

Bless her heart she's still trying to give directions. The last turn comes out in a long moan as she comes her nails scratching the leather interior.

Meh.

Not the first time.

"Can I keep you?" She asks breathlessly as they get out of the car in front of her modest building.

"Maybe." He shrugs and she laughs a little leading him into the building.

She's all over him in the elevator and he tries to focus on sex but honestly he's fucking tired.

She's fishing for her keys when the door rips open.

"Jennifer where the fuck have you been?" The man holding the door is trying very hard not to yell.

Must be the room mate.

"Teddy!" She yelps and he has the distinct feeling that room mate isn't quite right.

"Who is this?" He points angrily at Dick and fuck this. He does _not_ want to deal with boyfriend/fiancé/husband/whatever.

She opens her mouth no doubt to spin some terrible thin lie.

"Safe ride." Dick supplied and the man wavers a little confused, "have a good night." He smiles at them and takes his leave.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck.

Where the hell was he supposed to stay now cause he sure as fuck wasn't staying at stalker central.

He gets into his car and puts his head against the steering wheel.

He looks up across the street where Mac is sitting.

He takes a shaking breath, "Mac...I know you can hear me...I just..can I..." He grips the wheel, "can I stay at your place?"

He can practically hear the look she must be giving him from here.

"I swear I won't try anything I just don't want to go home...that...they've been in my house Mac..."

There's a flash of light and it takes a long moment to realize that Macs flashed her lights at him in response.

"Thank you." He tells the car because he knows he won't be able to actually form the words when she's beside him.


End file.
